Page 776 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

Chapter 52

There was a train for Turin and Paris that evening; and af-
ter the Countess had left her Isabel had a rapid and decisive
conference with her maid, who was discreet, devoted and
active. After this she thought (except of her journey) only of
one thing. She must go and see Pansy; from her she couldn’t
turn away. She had not seen her yet, as Osmond had given
her to understand that it was too soon to begin. She drove at
five o’clock to a high door in a narrow street in the quarter of
the Piazza Navona, and was admitted by the portress of the
convent, a genial and obsequious person. Isabel had been at
this institution before; she had come with Pansy to see the
sisters. She knew they were good women, and she saw that
the large rooms were clean and cheerful and that the well-
used garden had sun for winter and shade for spring. But
she disliked the place, which affronted and almost fright-
ened her; not for the world would she have spent a night
there. It produced to-day more than before the impression
of a well-appointed prison; for it was not possible to pretend
Pansy was free to leave it. This innocent creature had been
presented to her in a new and violent light, but the second-
ary effect of the relation was to make her reach out a hand.
The portress left her to wait in the parlour of the convent
while she went to make it known that there was a visitor
for the dear young lady. The parlour was a vast, cold apart-

776 The Portrait of a Lady